How much have you spent on ebooks vs. ereaders?

[NickyWithNook]

I have spent quite a bit on ereaders, but I think I've spent more on books. Not 20 times more or whatever, but it's hard to quantify. I haven't kept track.

[Barbara1955]

pw3 I paid $55 inc tax. for after Trade-in Bonus & it being on sale... IF it last 2 years I be happy. e-books are Mostly Freebies or I catch my mail authors when they on sale. I adv $15 -20 month if that on e-books.

[Bookworm_Girl]

This is an interesting question. If I were to add the price of all the ereaders I've bought and all the ebooks I've bought, then both numbers would be exorbitantly high and I'd be depressed thinking about it! In the end though it probably evens out.

I bought my first ereader in March 2007. In the beginning the reader cost probably exceeded the book cost. I started borrowing books in 2009. The reader and book cost probably equalized. By 2014 I had increased my libraries to three and joined a subscription service. The cost of readers meanwhile was declining. So I transitioned to books costing more. However my annual spend on both readers and books has been decreasing year over year. And, the cost avoidance of the books borrowed probably exceeded both the cost of the reader and the books in more recent years.

2016 will be interesting. I bought an Oasis which at $312 defies the trend of declining reader prices. So far I have spent $87 on book purchases and my subscription service. The cost avoidance of books that I have borrowed is $306.

[alecE]

As of today, I've spent approx. five times more money on ebooks than ereaders. However the result is skewed by my having bought a Kobo reader three days ago. Prior to that purchase, the ratio was just under 10 times more on ebooks than ereaders.

[pdurrant]

I've estimated 10x as much on ebooks as ereaders. I do have a good measure of ebook spend. I've had to have a bit of a guess at ereader spend.

[EDIT: Checking, I've spent around £5600 on ebooks over the years.

Perhaps I have spent a bit more than £560 on ebook readers over that time - several Sony Cliés, Bookeen Cybook, Kindle 2i, Bookeen Opus, Kindle Paperwhite, Kindle Voyage - but certainly not more than £1120.]

[issybird]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I've estimated 10x as much on ebooks as ereaders. I do have a good measure of ebook spend. I've had to have a bit of a guess at ereader spend.

I arrived at the same multiplier from the other end; I have a very good sense of how much I've spent on ereaders, but the ebooks are an estimate.

[Froide]

Originally Posted by GeoffR

In ebook spending: include subscripions, library memberships, etc.

In ereader spending: include ereader covers and accessories, ereading apps, etc. but don't include phones, laptops etc. unless you bought them mainly for reading ebooks.

Which option is closest, in your estimation, to what you have spent on ereaders vs. ebooks to date?

Edit: Sorry my phrasing of the options was a bit clumsy. "about 2x more on ebooks than on ereaders" would have been better than saying "about 2x as much on ebooks as on ereaders".

The basic idea of the poll is to see what proportion of spending goes on content (ebooks) compared to the things needed to read that content (ereaders).

Interesting exercise, though I'd recommend changing the title and description to "digital books" - or better, "digital content" - to include audiobooks, comics, periodicals, etc. that many people consume primarily via devices used for consuming that content.

*In ebook [i.e., digital content] spending: include subscrip[t]ions, library memberships, etc. - I'm not counting library taxes, because that's a required expenditure whether I use public library services or not = max. $500

*In ereader spending: include ereader covers and accessories, ereading apps, etc.[,] but don't include phones, laptops[,] etc.[,] unless you bought them mainly for reading ebooks. - approx. $800, since 2011

*Which option is closest, in your estimation, to what you have spent on ereaders vs. ebooks to date? - ereaders/ebooks= $800/$500 = 1.6 = "about 2x as much on ereaders as on ebooks"

Unfortunately, however, I responded to the poll incorrectly. I should have more carefully read your question before doing so, because I answered based on the value of the vast ebooks/audiobooks/comics/periodicals library I own rather than on the amount I've actually spent purchasing or subscribing to that digital content.

[rcentros]

Originally Posted by cromag

All but one of my ereaders were bought used or refurbished. The other one was bought at a substantial discount.

I rarely spend more than $5 for an ebook, usually less, and a lot were free.

Pretty much the same for me. I don't pay a lot for eBooks (occasionally more than $5) but I also don't pay much for my eReaders (even though I've bought too many of them). I've got many more eBooks than eReaders, so I guessed I spent about 5 times as much for eBooks than for eReaders.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by Froide

Interesting exercise, though I'd recommend changing the title and description to "digital books" - or better, "digital content" - to include audiobooks, comics, periodicals, etc. that many people consume primarily via devices used for consuming that content.

Changing it would invalidate the votes of everyone who has already voted. That's why we don't edit polls.

[shalym]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Changing it would invalidate the votes of everyone who has already voted. That's why we don't edit polls.

Also, at least in my mind, "Digital content" includes movies and music as well as books, comics, audiobooks and periodicals.

When I was taking the poll, I included all content that I bought to put onto my Kindle...whether it's a straight ebook, manga, or a periodical. For instance, I included the Amazon literary periodical Day One, which is sent directly to my Kindle every week. If I bought Audio books, I would probably include those as well, but I don't so I didn't

Shari

[Froide]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Changing it would invalidate the votes of everyone who has already voted. That's why we don't edit polls.

10-4. Thanks for catching that. I should been more explicit, to suggest a new poll, as I didn't intend to recommend changing this specific one midstream.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by rcentros

I also don't pay much for my eReaders (even though I've bought too many of them).

Me, too. With the exception of the original Nook for which I paid full price when it came out, all my ereaders were bought at a discount ranging from significant to substantial.